WASHINGTON — Counting down to a high-stakes Crimean referendum, President Barack Obama declared Wednesday that the U.S. would "completely reject" a vote opening the door for the strategic Ukrainian peninsula to join Russia if the election goes ahead on Sunday. Adding pressure on Russia, the Senate advanced a package of potentially tough economic sanctions against Moscow.

Obama made a point of welcoming Ukraine's new leader to the White House, declaring as they sat side-by-side that he hoped there would be a "rethinking" by Russian President Vladimir Putin of the referendum. If the vote does occur, Obama said, the international community "will be forced to apply a cost to Russia's violation of international law."

Secretary of State John Kerry also was talking tough, telling Congress, "It can get ugly fast if the wrong choices are made, and it can get ugly in multiple directions." Kerry will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday in London in a last-ditch effort to halt the referendum.

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